In a Kingdom Hall I used to be in, the building was older, but the interior was nice.
We had comfy padded stacking chairs, as most Halls do now in the U.S.
We remodeled to improve the dark look from the 1960's which had not changed
in the Hall for 25 years up to that point. The remodel was merely paint and woodwork.
Labor was free. It was not that expensive.
Later, the Kingdom Hall Operating Committee saw that there was still a bunch of
money in the operating fund. They looked around and saw what could be improved,
decided to spend the money. They repaved the parking lot. When it came up for vote,
I asked why. They said it was uneven and difficult to shovel snow. I said snow is light,
then many people shovel, NO BIG DEAL. Snow is heavy, then it is plowed, NO BIG DEAL.
The majority of elders (5 congregations) voted in favor to repave- 10 Grand.
Next, the wrought-iron fence was rusting at the bottom of each metal rod (the spacers that are
every 5 or 6 inches). The committee decided to replace the fence- 10 Grand again.
There were some brothers that offered to repair the fence, mainly by just cutting the rusty
bottoms off the spacers and removing about 4 inches at the bottom of the fence. There are no
real security concerns over such a minor change, as only dogs and squirrels could fit in under the
fence, and they could already squeeze in-between the spacer bars. The brothers promised to weld
any major problems, paint the entire thing again. They could fix it for $1500. The majority voted to
replace the entire fence for 10 grand.
They are building and fixing up for permanent use, not for Armageddon right around the corner.
One of the elders that offered to fix the fence said "It is really easy for [the elders] to spend money
that is not theirs on the Kingdom Hall. How many would quickly vote for spending $20,000 on their
own home without investigating cheaper ways to deal with the problems, or just living with the
problems?" That affected my mindset. When, in the next Kingdom Hall, (richer folks there) they
wanted to remodel the entire interior of the Hall, I looked around and saw a 10 year old auditorium
with clean walls and functioning lights. I saw nothing wrong with it. They said they needed new
chairs and carpet, so why not remodel the whole thing. I said to get new chairs and carpet, forget
the rest. They voted to remodel the entire interior of the hall.
Later, a new fence and gate were discussed at an elder's meeting. The 4 congregations were
discussing it separately and if each congregation agreed, they would just do it, without meeting as
a big group. The body from my cong. decided to ask the publishers about it. So it was brought out
at the service meeting- and they invited questions. I asked a whole bunch about why this nice
neighborhood needed such security measures. Nobody else asked questions. Then they took a vote
where all the elders were in favor of the fence and gate- except for me. I was sitting near the front
(coincidentally) and people saw me refraining from a YES vote. Next- those opposed. Along with my
hand, there were about 10 others that saw the expense as extravagant. Still, the majority of the cong.
was in favor (the other 3 congs. were also in favor) but the elders wanted to know why I was not in
unity with them. "We discussed this." "It was mentioned, but not discussed." "We were in favor."
"No, you never asked if the elders were in favor, you just said it sounds like a good idea, but we will let
the cong. vote on it, because it's a big expense." "Why didn't you tell us you were against it before the
vote?" "Why didn't you ask what we thought before the vote?"
I am very surprised my BOE is not looking to DF me now in my fade. I have always been outspoken.
